My evaluation for Media Studies

1. Evaluation
Sam Jones

2. 1.
• Whilst researching my chosen genre, Alternative Rock, I noticed three main
magazines that focused on the same and similar genres to mine. These
magazines were,
-NME
-Kerrang
-Q
• I decided to take most of my inspiration from Q magazine as it is the
magazine that I liked the look of the most. It caught my attention the most
and if all three magazines had the exact same articles I would pick up Q. I
use this reasoning because my target demographic are people with the
same music interest as mine. Therefore, what I like my demographic should
also like.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

3. • I noticed that Q had a very uniform and smart
house style. With clear imagery and not so
many features that would overwhelm the
audience.
• I decided that I would follow this idea and
therefore I only featured four articles on the
cover of my magazine. Instead I will use a
strong key signifier linked with a strong front
quote to draw the reader in to the product.

4. • I decided that I would both follow and go against codes
and conventions of magazines. I used a Skyline and a
Masthead in a clear way across the top of the magazine.
• On the right side of the magazine I went against
conventions and made the word ‘Festivals’ go down the
magazine with names of festivals going along it. I found
that this was favoured by many of the audience I asked
who were mostly made up of my target demographic.
• I use a key signifier which was looking directly at the
reader, this creating direct address. I also made sure that
the background was out of focus so that focus would be
drawn on the artist. I did this in a way that made all the
graffiti in the background still visible as it links in with
the artist and also linked to the house style.

5. I used green for my contents page as
it links to my cover and is my house
style. As it is related to the cover of
my magazine, my house style colour
will change for each issue of the
magazine, all depending on strong
colours seen on the front cover.
This challenges conventions as most
magazine have a set house style
which will follow through every issue.
There are not many images on my
contents page, this is to draw focus
to the main, larger image. This image
is linked to the main article of the
magazine. As they see this artist on
the main cover, the readers will
immediately find the main article on
the contents page.
I decided to highlight each key word
on my contents, this allowing for
readers to quickly find the name of
bands/songs they like, then they can
read what the article is about and
decide whether or not they want to
continue on to read the entire article.
This allows for quick and easy
navigation of the contents page, so
that the reader can get through it
quickly and get on with reading the
articles they bought the magazine for.
The contents page is organised into
boxes. Each box is a different section
with different titles, this allows for
even faster reading of the contents
page so that the reader can of course
quickly continue on to read the
articles they wish to read.

6. I continued to use green on this page
as it continues my house style and is
also the colour linked with this
article. It can be seen on the cover,
contents and of course the double
page spread.
The title of each question is a darker
colour than the answer text. This
allows the readers to skim through
the questions so that they can see
which questions they are interested
in. Also as they are looking for a
question they want to read, they
could come across a question that
spikes an unknown interest.
There is a section named quick Q’s.
This section is for people who may
not have enough time to read the
article but would like to quickly learn
something about the artist in
question. This will be a section
included in every double page spread
interview throughout every issue of
the magazine.
There is a large quote on the image
which relates to the interview. This
quote appears in the last question.
This means that if this quote spikes
the interest of the reader, they will
have to skim through all of the
questions before it to be able to find
it. This could mean that they may find
a question they’ll find interest in
beforehand.

7. 2.
• I have represented my key signifier as having a poor background. I
have shown this by framing him in front of a graffitied wall. This is
working with the stereotype of poor people breaking the law a lot.
One of these being graffitiing. This creates a bottom to the top style
story similar to Ed Sheeran.
• On the contents page, there’s a picture of him in an industrial estate.
This represents are not so good education due to the local economy
and therefore he had to get a low paying job in a factory. This will be
tied in to the article about him, talking about how he began his career
in music.
How does your media product represent particular social
groups?

8. • My representation of the character is a good one because it shows
the audience that no matter how you’ve started life, you can still do
great things. I have tried to create an artist similar to Ed Sheeran, not
with musical style, but with how their career in music began.
• Though my character has not had been homeless and hasn’t had to
busk for money. He has had a bad upbringing and a bad job with
almost no opportunities. His band was noticed and grew and grew
into an internationally famous band with fans across the world.

9. • I have given the character pretty normal clothing. Nothing expensive. Jeans, t-shirt,
jacket.
• These clothes show that he doesn’t dress as if he’s rich but dresses how he always has.
He has a varsity jacket which is more prominent in the US than it is in the UK. This
draws attention to him as he looks different to many people in the UK as not many
people would wear a jacket like that one.
• He also wears classes and is also ginger. This plays against two stereotypes. One, people
with glasses are really nerdy and two, Gingers are losers and uncool.
• With all I’ve represented, I have not represented people of ethnic backgrounds. My
reasoning for this is because I have noticed that with almost all Alternative Rock artists,
especially the most well known, there is a lack of ethnic people with in it, especially
when it comes to lead singers. As to create a believable character, I chose to keep with
this average and use a white friend of mine as the model for my character.
• There is also a lack of women in my magazine but this is for the same reasoning as the
lack of ethnic people in my magazine. In the way that the average Alternative Rock
artist is a heterosexual white male (Even though I have gone for a Homosexual).
Although there is a lack, I do have a woman in Epilogue as their Bassist. This is mostly
as of a way to make the homosexuality of my artist, somewhat more surprising as most
readers would expect him to be heterosexual and to have something between him and
the bassist but instead he is homosexual and has a thing going on with the other male
in their band.

10. 3.
• While researching institutions, I looked at the institutions for the
three magazines I have been looking at. I found that both Kerrang and
Q are distributed by Bauer Media and that NME is distributed by Time
Inc.
• As my magazine is similar to Q magazine. I have decided to have my
magazine distributed by Bauer Media as the company knows how to
successfully market and distribute a magazine of this style and this
should increase sales which will increase the fan base and spread of
the magazine.
What kind of institution would distribute
your media product and why?

11. • The ideology of Bauer Media:
“In an era where audiences are ever
harder to categorise, we build strong cultural
connections, drawing people together with the things
that they really care about. Our brands become the lens
through which our audiences see the world.
Our focus is on deep consumer insight and instinct, and
when they collide, the sparks fly!”

12. • I agree with this ideology as I believe bringing people together through what
they enjoy is a good thing as it creates a community.
• Bauer Media reaches over 25 million consumers in the UK alone and therefore
know what they are doing in terms of distribution and marketing. This is why I
have picked to have my magazine distributed by Bauer Media, as Bauer will be
able to attract an audience and help create a fan base for my magazine.
• Bauer owns over 100 brands and this includes Q magazine. They could
advertise SOUND in Q as my target demographic are the primary readers of Q
magazine. This would mean being able to advertise straight to my potential
buyers and to the secondary audience of Q whom could be looking for
something similar to Q but not too different. This being SOUND.
• My magazine could also be advertised through radio or the internet. This
would be a better way of advertising as my target demographic are the people
who have grown up around technology and are regular users of the internet.
This means that if Bauer advertised SOUND more on the internet than
publications, it will be more successful, especially if cookies were used,
therefore the exact demographic would be seeing the advertisments.

13. 4.
• When I began creating my
magazine, I decided to go
for an approach of my
target demographic being,
myself and people like me.
• Teenagers/Young adults.
15-24
• Male/Female
• Living in the UK
Who would the audience be for your media product?

14. • My audience listen primarily to Alternative rock.
• The audience need to be able to relate/look up to the artists featured
in the magazine because of this as Alternative rock deals with
personal themes such as relationships a lot.
• These themes relate to the audience, as young relationships tend to
be passionate but don’t last for very long, resulting in heartbreak.
This means that the artists must look and act relatable aswell as just
be able to write relatable lyrics.

15. • The artist on my cover is shown wearing mostly normal clothing, this
allows him to relate to the target audience as teens and young adults
don’t have as much disposable income to spend on expensive
clothing due to their education/job situation.

16. 5.
• I attracted my audience by using a strong quote about the main
article in the magazine. “Best guitarist? I’m not even the best guitarist
in Epilogue!” This attracts the audience because they will be
wondering why the artist who’s been named ‘The best guitarist in the
world’ is saying this.
• I have also used direct address to draw in the reader as it makes the
reader feel as if they are being directly spoken to by the artist on the
cover. This appeals to the audience as it makes the magazine seem to
be made just for them and nobody else.
How did you attract/address your audience?

17. • It’s surprising and shocking, therefore it draws in the audience
because they want to know what on earth the artist is on about.
“How can he not be the best in Epilogue? He’s their lead guitarist.”
• The character I have created for my magazine is very modest and
much more down to Earth than other artists. For example, he doesn’t
believe himself that he’s ‘The best guitarist in the world.’ Instead he
says that the lead singer in the band is a better guitarist. Being this
humble makes him relatable to the audience as not many teens or
young adults are comfortable with being the centre of attention or
being seen as really good at something.

18. • The character is also hinted at being homosexual/bisexual. This creates
diversity and also challenges the conventions of Alt Rock artists being
dominantly Heterosexual. This is more ‘in’ with the times as nowadays
being of different sexuality is seen as a normal thing that people shouldn’t
be ashamed of. This is especially true in the younger generations as they
have grown up around the controversy and victory of gay marriage and
such. This allows them to be more open minded about such subjects.
• I decided to hide this information in the article rather than using it as a
point of attraction as it proves my statement above. Yes, it is surprising for
the reader to hear, (especially when the audience has been expecting there
to be something between him and the female lead singer) but it won’t be
seen as a massive thing to fuss over. Yes people will talk about it, but, being
homosexual is no longer a big dealer and people will get used to it quickly.

19. 6.
• When I began created my product, I was new to a lot of the things we
were using.
- Photoshop
- My DSLR
- The Apple Macs
• I have had to learn how to use all of this equipment to create my
media product.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?

20. • When I first used photoshop, I had no idea what anything on it did. I
couldn’t do anything.
• Through a lot of practice, help and using online tutorials, I was able to
create both my cover and double paged spread using it.(My contents
page was made through PowerPoint as I found it easy to make text
boxes and shapes quickly and efficiently. This allowing me to easily
make a neat look.)
• With this new knowledge I was able to confidently create my media
product and make it look exactly how I wanted it to.

21. • I had recently bought a Canon 1300D DSLR camera when I began the media course. I was
new to photography and was teaching myself in my own time. I learnt about depth of
field and composition to create good images. I used what I taught myself to create strong
images for my work that could attract the audience and portray a character.
• I have improved greatly with my skill of photography throughout this course, as seen
below…

22. 7.
• I really didn’t like my preliminary task, it was terrible. Just looking back at it makes me cringe about it. I’ve developed
massively since making my preliminary. I’ve used more codes and conventions of magazines than I previously had. It
has allowed me to create a stronger product which is more similar to a genuine music magazine.
• Previously I made my puffs slanted as I thought it would make them stand out better on the cover. Though they did
stand out better, it didn’t look very good and was somewhat distracting, especially as they were in a bright red font
which, now looking back, is very unappealing to the eye. Now with my final product, I have used a sharp and clear
white font against a blurring dark background which creates a contrast between the text and the background which
makes it much clearer to read. It also looks smarter and much more professional than it di for my preliminary.
• My masthead isn’t very appealing either as it isn’t all capitalised. This lessens the effect and makes it less eye
catching. In comparison, the masthead on my final product is much more clear and eye catching. It is completely
capitalised which immediately makes it look much nicer. I also decided to switch the ‘O’ out for a vinyl record. This
makes my masthead more unique. To make it even more unique, I decided to reflect the design of the record onto the
other letters. I made the inside of the letters into the paper circle on the vinyl and made the outside of the letters, the
vinyl itself.
• My key signifier is useless as it doesn’t relate to anything else on the cover. There is no main article to go along with it.
There’s not even anything interesting about the image. The background takes up more space than the subject. And
the subject doesn’t even take up half of the frame. The only good points about it are the direct address from the
subject and the blurred background. In comparison, the key signifier for my cover is the most important thing. He is
related to the main article and takes up most of the frame. All of the puffs make room for him and nothing over lays
his face. This creates a clear line between the reader and the key signifier, nothing is in their way of each other.
• Lacking from my preliminary was a skyline. I am unsure as to whether this would have made my preliminary any
better but it definitely made my final product better. I decided that the text to go into it should be “The biggest alt
rock magazine in the UK”. This both relates to the sheer amount of pages it consists of but also its popularity amongst
fans of Alternative Rock.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

23. • My contents page was worse as it followed barely any codes and
conventions for magazines. The text is clear but it takes up the entire
frame. There is one big image in the background which doesn’t exactly
do anything for the page as there is no article related to it. In
comparison, every image on my final product’s contents page, has a
reason to be there. Also the text is organised much better than
previously as the only text overlapping images, is text that is directly
related to the image.
• I have also highlighted all key words on my final product contents page
as it makes reader the contents clearer and quicker. I hadn’t done this
for my preliminary contents page which causes it to be harder to read,
this doesn’t help as I had decided to put red text over a red tinted
image hoping it would make it easier to read but instead did the
opposite.
• I followed my house style with both of them by bringing through
colours from the cover to the contents.
• I also decided to use dots to join the page numbers with the article. At
the time, this made sense to me as it made it easier to find the page
number. Now looking back at it and with my final product in
comparison, I’ve noticed that using dots like this, makes it look more
like the contents of a book instead of a magazine. My final product was
much clearer as the page number was immediately next to the name
of the article it corresponded with. In the end, this was a lot more
clearer and quicker to read than the dots I used for my preliminary.